Spot the differences, in treatment and in the message

Both Saradha chief Sudipta Sen and Trinamul MP Kunal Ghosh are in judicial custody in connection with cases related to the Saradha scandal. But events that took place on Monday and Tuesday illustrate how Sen was allowed to speak when his utterance suited the ruling party and Ghosh was sought to be muzzled when what he was about to say was inconvenient.

Sudipta Sen speaks to reporters without hindrance from escorting policemen on Monday.

Sen said : I didn’t buy
it (Mamata
Banerjee’s
painting)

SUDIPTA SEN

Date: April 28,
Monday

Place: Council House Street, where the office of Justice Shyamal Sen Commission is located

Escorted by:
Calcutta police

Sudipta Sen is ringed
by police. He is only
surrounded, not held
by the hand, pushed or shoved as he had been so many times in the past few months.
Waiting reporters are surprised as they find they could walk close
to him and hold their recorders near his mouth.
The questions flow. So do
the answers. The police
are in no hurry and they allow the Saradha boss
to pause for around
half-a-minute to reply
to the reporters.
It looks almost like an
interview. Sen stops,
speaks and then steps
into the van by himself.
(Earlier, the police would
often cordon off reporters
and form a human chain around Sen.)

As Sen walks, a
policeman is overheard saying, possibly to the
reporters: “Apnara side diye katha bolun.” (Please talk from the side.)

Kunal Ghosh struggles with an officer while
trying to speak to
reporters on Tuesday.

Ghosh said: There’s no
similarity between what he (Sen) had told me and what
has appeared in newspapers

KUNAL GHOSH

Date: April 29, Tuesday

Place: Bidhannagar
court complex

Escorted by:
Bidhannagar police

Between 10.15am and 3.30pm, Ghosh tries at least six times to speak
to reporters. The police eventually send word
for additional forces.
Ghosh’s effort begins in
the flight of steps leading
to the additional chief
judicial magistrate’s
court. Five policemen
are escorting Ghosh.

“I will be held back,
I won’t be allowed to speak,” Ghosh tells
reporters who are throwing
questions at him.

Ghosh: On 10, 11 and
12 April, I….
He is cut short by a tall
policeman who shields
Kunal from the cameras.

Ghosh: I will not go
anywhere…. Allow me
to speak.

Ghosh sits on the steps.

The policemen move
aside for a few seconds.
Ghosh: I was at the
central jail on last
April 10, 11 and 12….
An inspector butts in
and says: “Let’s go...
this is not press briefing.…
Don’t do this, please.”

Ghosh screams:
Allow me to speak a word
or two with them.

The police do not relent
and they form a ring around Ghosh. They start pulling him up.

Ghosh: On April 10, 11…. Tell your government that this can’t happen. You are abusing me by holding me back and then you don’t allow me to speak.

A reporter: “Kunal-da… did Sudipta buy the paintings?

Ghosh (to the policemen): Don’t touch me. This is
outside the courtroom.

Ghosh looks down at the
reporters and says:
On April 10, April 11 and April 12, I was at Alipore jail with Sudipta Sen. I have asked several questions to Sudipta Sen, including those relating to the paintings. There is no similarity
between what he had told me and what has appeared in today’s newspapers.